1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the general field of storage containers and dispensers for domestic tools and utensils. In particular, the invention provides a new weather-proof caddy designed for facilitating the use of clothespins and for storing them between uses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Clothespins have been used for decades for securing laundered articles suspended from clotheslines to dry by natural evaporation. A typical clothespin consists of two pieces of wood or plastic forming a fork clamped shut by the action of a metal spring. Between uses, clothespins are normally left pinned to the clothesline or stored in makeshift containers, so that they are often subjected to damage caused by the weather and other external agents. When left on the line, they are subjected to radiation from the sun as well as moisture, and possibly freeze, from precipitation. After a few seasons of use, plastic clothespins tend to disintegrate from exposure to ultraviolet light and wood ones become brittle from repeated weather cycles.
In order to prevent these problems, people often store clothespins in containers that are not designed for that specific purpose but offer a convenient way to preserve them between uses.
If air-tight, plastic containers are used, of the type normally found in kitchenware for food preservation, the moisture originally in the pins remains trapped in the container, causing corrosion damage to the metal spring and rot to the wooden pieces. If ventilated containers, such as paper bags, cardboard boxes and metal cans, or homemade bags are used, the clothespins may still remain at least partially exposed to the weather because they may be left outside, near the clothesline, for convenience. In addition, all of these containers tend to be awkward to open and close and may rot, oxidize or otherwise deteriorate rapidly.
Another common problem associated with the use of inadequate containers is the difficulty of retrieving each clothespin as needed while hanging clothes on the line. Normally one hand is used to hold the article of clothing on the line while the other hand retrieves the pin, often in a holder on the ground and out of easy reach. Thus, the procedure becomes cumbersome, inefficient, and sometimes impossible.
It would be desirable to have a container especially designed for holding clothespins between uses and for their efficient dispensation during the process of hanging clothes on a line. One such container is described by Pastorious in U.S. Pat. No. 2,520,054 (1950). It consists of an open-ended box of rectangular cross-section with a hook on top for hanging on a clothesline. The top of the box is open but partially obstructed by a pair of horizontal baffles that force clothespins dropped in it to assume a horizontal position before engaging in the downward path toward the bottom of the box. Thus, the pins become stacked in the container in a horizontal position, facing an open slot at the bottom from which they can be grabbed and forced out. A special finger hole in that slot makes it possible for a user to so extract the clothespins one by one.
The use of this device can become complicated when one of the pins lodges itself crosswise along the length of the box, making it very difficult to extract it from the bottom slot. When that happens, all pins become trapped in the container between the baffles at the top and the pin so lodged at the bottom, and they can only be extracted by shaking the container to rearrange them into their correct position. This is likely to occur when pins of different sizes are used, especially if larger than the exact size for which the device's bottom slot is designed. Another problem with the device is that it is open to exposure to rain, if left hanging on the clothesline. Oxidation occurs, resulting in contamination of the pins which, in turn, soil the clothes when used. If it is stored away, on the other hand, the loose pins inside are likely to be shaken out of place and display the above described complication when the container is hung back on the line for use.
Therefore, a need still exists for a problem-free clothespin caddy that is easy to use while hanging clothes on a clothesline and that provides maximum protection to the clothespins while held in storage.